Representatives from Nevada AIDS Action presented U.S. Sen. Harry Reid with an oversized Publishers Clearing House check for $9 billion. Who signed it? April Fool.

The April Fool’s Day hoax was supposed to raise awareness of a much crueler joke inflicted by the U.S. government on AIDS/HIV-positive people in the developing world. For years, the United States has over-promised and underfunded its AIDS-prevention and treatment efforts in Africa, according to the Health Global Access Project. It’s gotten worse under President Obama.

Say what you will about President Bush, but the guy did a lot for AIDS sufferers in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s one of the few foreign policy initiatives he can legitimately call a success. During his presidency, AIDS-related deaths in Kenya dropped by 29 percent. An average of half a million people were added to anti-retroviral drug programs every year under 2002’s President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Obama’s campaign promises included a pledge to increase the commitment from $19 million to $50 million. Didn’t happen. Instead, he scaled back some of the most ambitious parts of the program. Instead of adding 500,000 to drug programs, the Obama administration plans to add only 320,000, according to ReliefWeb. So much for doubling PEPFAR.

A coalition of African AIDS organizations gave Obama a D+ for his first year in office. The protest in Las Vegas was part of a coordinated nationwide effort to raise awareness of Obama’s broken promises.

“In Kenya, someone has to die for someone else to get on the list to get meds,” said David Bond, founder of Nevada AIDS action.

The amount on the check, $9 billion, would be enough to expand PEPFAR for one year to the levels promised by President Obama during the 2008 campaign. As Bond and fellow protestor Bruce Parrott pointed out, it’s a pittance compared to the bank bailout.

“He will fund banks to save the financial system, but he won’t fund a program that saves human lives,” Parrott said.